Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Safety Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Safety Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of SAFT opened at $71.03 on Friday. Safety Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $67.04 and a 52 week high of $84.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.60.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($0.72) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($2.17). Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 4.94%.The company had revenue of $314.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.01 million.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.00%.

Insider Activity at Safety Insurance Group

In other Safety Insurance Group news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 14,151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.12, for a total transaction of $1,006,419.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,794,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,635,863.60. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 36,304 shares of company stock worth $2,728,283 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 4,745 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,377 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 23,753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,851,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 74.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 388 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc is a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company incorporated in Massachusetts in 1994. Its principal subsidiary, Safety Insurance Company, traces its roots back to 1923 and has since evolved into a regional personal lines insurer. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SAFT.

Safety Insurance Group focuses primarily on private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance products, along with dwelling fire, umbrella liability, and certain commercial auto coverages.